Darkest Night

Alderheart’s heart sank. Why was RiverClan behaving like this? Mistystar hadn’t seemed this hostile at the Gathering. Now it sounded like she was following in the paw steps of Onestar, the late WindClan leader who’d acted so oddly before Darktail was driven off. “StarClan is unhappy about RiverClan cutting themselves off,” he mewed softly. He didn’t want to upset Willowshine, but he hoped she might pass on his words to Mistystar.

“Mistystar feels betrayed by the other Clans,” Willowshine murmured, as though she feared being overheard. “She feels they should have stopped Darktail before he caused so much harm.”

Alderheart glanced at her sympathetically. “RiverClan suffered. We all did. But how could the Clans have known Darktail was so evil? How could we imagine the unimaginable?”

Willowshine didn’t answer. She was clearly torn between loyalty to her Clanmates and loyalty to StarClan. Instead she changed the subject. “How is SkyClan?”

Alderheart remembered that RiverClan had left the Gathering before SkyClan’s fate had been decided. “They have their own territory now. Rowanstar gave them a piece of ShadowClan land.”

Willowshine blinked at him in surprise. “Why?”

“Tigerheart suggested it,” Alderheart told her. “He said it made sense to have a grateful ally on their border.”

Willowshine was quiet for a moment. Then she mewed, “Should Rowanstar have let Tigerheart make such an important decision? After everything ShadowClan has been through, they need their leader to be strong.”

“Perhaps having a strong deputy is as good as having a strong leader.” Alderheart cut away from the stream and began to head for the rise, which led to the camp. He hadn’t thought about Tigerheart’s speech much; he’d been too worried about SkyClan’s fate. But Willowshine was right. By speaking up, Tigerheart had made Rowanstar seem less powerful.

The sight of the thorn barrier distracted him from the thought. What would Bramblestar say about Willowshine’s vision? Please let him take it seriously this time. Worry pricked at his paws as he padded into camp.

Bramblestar sat alone on Highledge. Dovewing was talking with Millie and Graystripe outside the elders’ den. Blossomfall was encouraging her kits to chase a moss ball beside the nursery, knocking it softly away from them as they stumbled to catch it. They were still unsteady on their paws, blinking at the daylight.

Stemkit’s white-and-orange fur was fluffed out as he scrambled ahead of his littermates and reached the moss ball first. “I got it!” he squeaked triumphantly.

Eaglekit hooked it away from him with a delighted mew.

Willowshine purred. “They look well.”

“They are healthy and strong,” Alderheart reported proudly. “In SkyClan, Tinycloud’s had her kits too. Two she-kits and a tom.”

Graystripe called across the clearing. “Willowshine! It’s good to see you. How is RiverClan?”

“They’re fine,” she reported, not meeting the old tom’s eye.

“Has Mistystar opened the border?” Dovewing asked.

“No.” Willowshine’s pelt ruffled. “I just came to discuss something with Alderheart.”

Dovewing shrugged and headed toward the nursery. As she began playing with the kits, Alderheart led Willowshine up the tumble of rocks.

Bramblestar met them at the top. “Willowshine.” He flicked his tail uneasily. “What are you doing here? Is everything okay in RiverClan?”

“RiverClan is fine.” Willowshine dipped her head. “I came to share a vision I had with Alderheart.”

Bramblestar’s gaze sharpened. “Did StarClan send you their message about the dark sky?”

“It wasn’t the same as the prophecy they shared with us,” Alderheart told him. “It’s a new message.”

Willowshine met the ThunderClan leader’s gaze. “I had a vision of a six-toed cat. StarClan told me that to fend off the storm, we will need an extra claw.”

Bramblestar’s gaze narrowed.

At last! Relief washed Alderheart’s pelt. His father finally seemed interested in the prophecy.

“Do you know what it means?” Bramblestar looked from Willowshine to Alderheart.

“I was thinking maybe the claws could mean Clans,” Alderheart said tentatively. “Five claws . . . five Clans.”

Bramblestar looked into the distance and flicked his tail, agitated. “So it means another Clan? A sixth Clan?”

“It could mean StarClan,” Alderheart told him.

Willowshine shook her head. “That’s not what it felt like in the vision,” she mewed. “I think the cat I saw is a real cat. I think we have to find it.”

Alderheart turned to her. “Are you sure it’s that simple?”

Willowshine blinked at him. “Perhaps not . . . but we must start somewhere.”

“Well, assuming it is a cat, do you know what the cat looks like?” Bramblestar asked.

“Only that it has six toes on its hind paw. I don’t even know if it’s a tom or a she-cat.” Willowshine dipped her head. “I wish I could tell you more.”

“It was good of you to come and share this much,” Bramblestar meowed. “I’ll certainly keep thinking.”